Means for separating the constituents of crude oil emulsions



J1me 27, 1939; H PASSLER 2,163,804

MEANS FOR SEPARATING THE CONSTITUENTS OF CRUDE OIL EMULSIONS F iled Sept. 2, 1936 1, III S III VIIIIIIIII;III

H Elf/"M NN PA SSLEF hf: Arri Patented June 27, 1939 MEANS For. SEPARATING 'rnncons'rrrm ENTS 10F CRUDE on. EMULSIONS Hermann Passler, Vienna, Austria, assignor of one-half to Albert Brunnbaueiy Junior, Vienna,

Austria Application September 2, 1936, Serial No. 99,061 v In Austria September 5, 1935 Claims.

Methods are already known for separating water from crude oil or petroleum emulsions, in which by insulation of the electrodes no electrically conducting connection is allowed to become 5 established between the electrodes through the emulsion. Withthe hitherto known methods of this nature, however, only a very small output has been reached, as regards the quantity of emulsion treated per unit of time, since hitherto only one or at the most two pairs of electrodes have been used, and these as a rule cylindrical electrodes placed concentrically one within the other. An arrangement of this type does'not admit of unlimited increase of the total cross-sectional area of .through flow, since otherwise the field, at least in the vicinity of the outer electrode, would become too weak and consequently ineffectual, unless inordinately high voltages were to be used. Increasing the velocity of through 20 flow is not feasible either, since the emulsion must remain for a certain minimum length of time in the electric field if the intended effect is l to occur.

The present invention provids a method of and appropriate means for the separating of water and solids from crude oil emulsions, which permits of an incomparably larger quantity of crude oil emulsion being handled per unit of time than with the hitherto known methods, that is to say, in other words, which gives far higher volumetric efliciency, without a proportionate increase in the cost of manufacturing or in the dimensions of the equipment required. According to my invention the emulsion is passed through between a separated from-the liquid by a dielectric for the purpose of preventing currentfrom being conducted through such liquid.

The invention further relates to a preferred type of apparatus for the carrying out of this method, which consists of a container with the requisite feed and discharge pipes, in which there are disposed a multiplicity of electrodes of substantially similar shape and size arranged in at leasttwo rows and insulated from theliquid in which they are immersed, the feed and discharge pipes being so positioned that the liquid flows through the container longitudinally of the rows of electrodes. According to a further feature of the invention the electrodes consist of a thinwalled and preferably pot-shaped dielectric (for example of hard glass) provided with current conducting inside coatings or linings. For the purposes of the present specification the term electrode is to be understood to mean the enmultiplicity of electrodes which are completely tire unit comprising the dielectric vessel and current-conducting lining coating.

Y When a dielectric consistingof hard glass is used the wall thickness thereof is 0.7 to 1 millimetre when the'tension of the current applied 5 amounts to 12,000 to l5,000'volts. t

With the method according to the present invention surprising results are obtained with an unusually'small apparatus; for example l0,000 kgs. of crude oil containing 40% of water can be rendered practically free'fromwater in a very short time with the use of alternating current of 12,000 volt tension and an energy consumption of 3 kilowatt-hours.

the 7 A form of construction of apparatus forcarrying out the method'according to the invention is shown, by way of example, in the accompanying drawing, in which: 1

Fig. 1 shows the apparatus in' diagrammatic longitudinal section. v 20 Figs. 2 and 3.show the same in plan view and end elevation, respectively.

Fig, 4 shows in transverse section the discharg ing aperture from the feed pipe into the separating tank.

Fig. 5 shows a detail of the electrodes, on an A enlarged scale.

Referring to the drawing, i denotes a troughshaped container or tank having at 2 an inlet for the mixture of oil and water to be separated. Adjoining this inlet there is provided the feed pipe 3. In front of the slotted aperture 2 there is provided a flap 4 (Fig. 4) which is suspended from a hinge 5, and which serves the purpose of ensuring uniform distribution of the incoming liquid over the entirebreadth oi the tank. At '6 there is provided an overflow through which the oil is discharged through a pipe line 1.

Beneath the oil pipe I there is provided a pipe line 9 through which the separated-off water is discharged. Since this water still contains traces of oil it is fed to a mechanical oil separated which is not shown in the drawing. The tapered body portion I of the tank serves for collecting-the separated out solid-matter and can be emptied from time to time by means of the valve I0. In this manner the foreign matter contained in the oil emulsion, which is heavier than water, may be conveniently and reliably eliminated without impeding the,separati9n of the water from the oil.

The tank I is closed over with a cover H made from insulating material, which constitutes the carrier for the electrodes which are disposed in adjacent rows. As shown in Fig. 5, these electrodes each consist of a suitably thin walled glass 56 vessel I! which is provided on the inside with a metal coating I, for example mirrored. 'Ihe flanged or beaded edge 12' of each vessel is 22 to one of the bus-bars 23, 24, and 25 for example of a three phase current supply system carrying current of 12,000 volts, and at the lower end by means of a metal brush 21 to the coating I. The pipe line I is connected to a venting pipe 29 through which air can enter the tank I through the overflow 6 and pipe line I. mixtures of gas and air which may collect in the tank can be drawn off through the pipe line .30 mechanically (say by means of an exhauster). The electrodes are so assembled in the cover II that they may readily be taken out and replaced. When three phase current is used for example the electrodes may be disposed in three 'rows each of which is connected to one phase of the three phase current supply system. r

I claim:

1. An apparatus for separating water and other foreign matter from crude oil emulsions, comprising an elongated tank having end walls, side walls and a bottom, a plurality of electrodes each including a thin-walled dielectric vessel having a conductive lining and projecting downwardly into said tank to a level above said bottom, said electrodes being arranged in rows extending longi- Any explosive.

tudinally oi! said tank, adjacent rows of electrodes being connected to different potentialsto-set up an electric fleld'between them, an inlet for the crude oil emulsion adjacent the top edge of one of said end walls, an overflow outlet for purified oil adjacent the top edge of the opposite end wall, and an outlet for the separated water in said last mentioned end wall at a level immediately below said electric field. I

2. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, comprising a cover of insulating material for said tank, said electrodes being exchangeably mounted in' and projecting through said cover. v

3. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, comprising a cover of insulating material for said tank, each of said dielectric vessels projecting through an opening in said cover andhaving a flanged rim by means of which it is suspended from said cover, the conductive lining of each of said vessels terminating below said rim.

4. An apparatus,- as claimed in claim 1, in which said tank comprises below the level of said water outlet an inwardly and downwardly sloping bottom portion forming a sump and. a cock ;at the lowermost point of said sump to allow withdrawal of solids separated from the crude oil solution.

5. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, com- I prising further a cover hermetically sealing said tank, an air inlet pipe connected to the overflow outlet for the purified oil, an outlet for gas-air mixture in said first mentioned end wall above said inlet for the crude oil emulsion, and means to introduce a stream of fresh air into said air inlet pipe to scavenge said tank above the level of the liquid in counter-current to the crude oil emulsion HERMANN PASSLER 

